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What The CVS-Aetna Merger Could Mean For Consumers

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The CVS Health logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. (Richard Drew/AP)
The CVS Health logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. (Richard Drew/AP)

Let's take a closer look at proposed merger between CVS Health and Aetna, one of the nation's largest health insurers. The big questions are: How could it change health care delivery for millions of Americans, and how could it change costs?

"It's really the perfect time to bring these two companies together," CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo told CNBC Monday about the proposed $69 billion deal. "To create a new health care platform that can be easier to use, less expensive for consumers, and really create a new front door to health care in our country."

CEOs almost always have a rosy outlook for their mergers, but not everyone agrees that the deal would be great for consumers. And we're talking about a lot of people here. CVS has nearly 10,000 drugstores and 1,100 walk-in clinics. Aetna covers 22 million Americans.

Guest

Craig Garthwaite, associate professor of strategy at Northwestern University's School of Management and the director of Kellogg's Health Enterprise Management Program. He tweets @C_Garthwaite.

This segment aired on December 5, 2017.

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